(All) The pResident's Man

I've been digesting all the material from the big blogs about Bob Woodward's admission that he too was on the receiving end of the "tip" outing Valerie Plame. And, as I'm sure most folks stopping here know by now, Bob, (aside: he has by far and away THE most incredibly annoying midwestern nasal accent I've ever heard, and having lived in the midwest for ten years I have at least a passing familiarity with such things)--anyway, Bob's been spinning like a Battling Top for some time now, insisting the Plame scandal was much ado about nothing. Or maybe it was like "a third-rate burglary" at, say, a political party's national headquarters. Or maybe it was just like what everyone else does, except they got caught.

Or--maybe Bob's forgotten what being a journalist is like, having had a good sized taste of life at high altitude. And maybe he's forgotten that political corruption--even when your friends are doing it--is still a crime, particularly when it involves not just sliming someone (bad enough), but when it results in UNDERMINING a significant policy aim--limiting the proliferation of chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.

Bob also had either a big time case of brainlock--or flat out lied--recently when he apparently insisted the leak caused "no damage" at the CIA. The truth is no declassified report has been made public--and the Agency isn't talking about what is or isn't behind the curtain.

This is really sad, for all sorts of reasons, some big and some small. Since the big guys are looking at the big stuff, I'll narrow the focus here and mention that All the President's Men was an eye-opener when I first read it some thirty years ago (even as a kid I was kind of a political junkie--ATPM and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail both got on my reading list at an early age--believe it or not, I checked the latter out from the Iberia Parish Public Library). Anyway, Woodward and Bernstein's volume was an enormous influence on me. I was aware of Watergate as a child, but didn't really get it--this changed after reading the book. I also began to really pore over any newspaper I could get my hands on and considered journalism a noble profession, one to possibly look into (obviously that didn't work out, although it's possible residual influence might have inspired my humble blog). Additionally, it made me develop a strong aversion to the cynical aspects of politics.

I guess Woodward went in the other direction. Now, it's not like I don't understand ambition, and to make it in DC you've got to have access (and writing best sellers is a hell of a lot better living than working the city beat). But watching someone you admired at one time crash so spectacularly is a little sad--even if I'd given up on the guy some time ago.

Of course, it's not like Woodward will be forced to the poorhouse, or even lose much access to the corridors of power (or, if he DOES lose access, he can always hit the lecture circuit--just like Judith Miller undoubtedly will). No, his "punishment" will be public humiliation, albeit with the salve of a tidy fortune in his bank account. I guess I just wish he'd have remembered how he got there...